James Hunter, center right, watches as election official John Carr, far left, and Moderator Dave Beaufait, right, attempt to run his ballot at Whitney Hall in Enfield yesterday. They were unsuccessful in fixing the machine and had to call for a replacement. “Twenty years. First time,” said Beaufait about the machine’s malfunction. He said it is 18 years old.(Valley News - Libby March) Purchase photo reprints »

Enfield — Voters overwhelming approved the establishment of a new Route 4 Zoning District, which is intended to help shape development between the intersection of Route 4 and Baltic Street and the Canaan town line. The article passed, 825-214, and solidifies a project that has been in the works for more than eight years, going back to when the town created a tax district to encourage development along Route 4. At Town Meeting last year, residents approved a $3.2 million water and sewer line extension along the route. “I think people recognized that the Route 4 zoning proposal would help the town achieve this vision for the area,” acting Town Planner Nathan Miller said after hearing the results. “It’s a very important piece of the town of Enfield.” Now that a bulk of the water and sewer line is in place, the town was ready to ask residents to approve the new zoning district. Miller called the stretch along Route 4 an area that Enfield residents have long identified ripe for growth in the community. The Planning Board has worked during the last 18 months to capture residents’ vision for the area, and a design survey was organized during the summer of 2011 to incorporate their ideas for development. Miller was taken aback by voters’ margin of approval last night, and gave credit to the Planning Board’s communication with the public. “I think the results are a testament to the Planning Board’s process in putting the zoning proposal together,” Miller said. The ordinance outlines mixed-use properties, such as commercial, residential and light industrial use, as well as encouraging space for pedestrian and cyclist travel. The district will also allow for retail businesses, office space, research and development space, food service, lodging and entertainment and recreation. The design survey showed that people didn’t want the area to turn into a “commercial strip,” so the ordinance proposed building standards that would reflect traditional New England architecture, such as numerous windows and pitched roofs, Miller said. Article 3 also passed, which will decrease the number of minimum parking spaces required throughout all zoning districts. Richard Crate also beat Christopher Bagalio for fire ward by a vote of 593-495. The rest of the articles, including the budget, will be discussed and voted on at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Enfield Village School.